Ismā‘īl ibn Ḥasan Jurjānī (circa 1042–circa 1136, also seen as Jorjānī and Gurjānī), known popularly as Hakim Jurjānī, was among the most famous physicians of 12th-century Iran. In the period between the Islamic conquest and the time of Jurjānī, almost all scientific books by Iranians were written in Arabic, including such famous works as al-Qānūn fī al-tibb (The canon of medicine) by Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Jurjānī's medical encyclopedia, Zakhīrah-i Khvārazm’Shāhī (The treasure of Khvarazm’Shah) was the first major medical book in post-Islamic Iran written in ...

This book is a printed edition of the Pandectarum Medicinae (Encyclopedia of medicaments) by Matthaeus Sylvaticus (died circa 1342), consisting of an alphabetized list of medications (primarily of herbal origin). Sylvaticus relies on the work of Simon of Genoa (flourished end of 13th century), who provided a lexicon of Latin, Greek, and Arabic medical terms in his dictionary, Clavis Sanationis. Sylvaticus also draws upon works by Greco-Roman authorities such as Galen, Dioscorides, and Paulus Aegineta (seventh century). Among his other sources were the writings of important scientists from the Islamic ...

This book is a compendium of medical works, printed in Basel in 1541 by the shop of Heinrich Petri (1508–79), also known by his Latinized name Henricus Petrus. It includes the Latin translation of the 30th chapter of the celebrated al-Taṣrīf li man ‘ajiza al-ta’līf (The arrangement of [medical knowledge] for one who is unable to compile [a manual for himself]) by the important Andalusian physician Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-‘Abbās al-Zahrawī. The book also contains a four-part work concerning the treatment of wounds and lesions by ...

This volume contains Luminare Maius (The greater luminary), and an antidotarium (book of antidotes), by Joannes Jacobus de Manliis (1490). It is based on the works of the Nestorian Persian physician Yūḥannā Ibn Māsawayh (circa 777–857), known in the Latin West as Mesue, and “other distinguished physicians.” Also included is an edition of Pandectarum Medicinae (Encyclopedia of medicaments) by Matteo Silvatico (also known by his Latinized name, Mattheus Sylvaticus, circa 1280–circa 1342), which consists of an alphabetized list of medications, primarily of herbal origin. Sylvaticus relied and expanded ...

Historia Plantarum (On plants) is a natural science encyclopedia, in which animals, plants, and minerals are illustrated and described for their medicinal properties, in keeping with the medieval tradition of the tacuina medievali (medieval health handbooks), and from which the codex derives its most common name, Tacuinum sanitatis. The work was first compiled as Taqwim al-Sihhah (The maintenance of health) by the 11th-century Baghdad physician Ibn Buṭlān, and chief among his Greek sources was Dioscorides, a physician in the first century. The court in Sicily commissioned a Latin translation in ...

Cornelius Aulus Celsius was a first-century Roman medical writer and the author of De medicina (On medicine), considered one of the most important medical treatises of late antiquity. The work’s encyclopedic arrangement follows the tripartite division of medicine at the time as established by Hippocrates and Asclepiades—diet, pharmacology, and surgery—and exhibits a level of medical knowledge remarkable for its time. This codex, from the Plutei Collection of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, changed hands a number of times. It might have belonged first to the library ...

Ben cao pin hui jing yao (Collection of the essential medical herbs of materia medica) was compiled and illustrated by imperial order of Emperor Xiaozong (ruled 1487−1505) of the Ming dynasty. The manuscript was completed in the 18th and last year of his reign, called Hongzhi (1505). It was the only officially published work on materia medica. After Emperor Xiaozong died, the manuscript was kept in the imperial court and not printed for more than four centuries. However, a number of expertly copied manuscripts with color illustrations did appear ...

The book Wai tai mi yao fang (Arcane medical essentials from the Imperial Library) records 69 medical classics published before the Tang dynasty (618–907) and contains 6,900 entries. Parts of original works that no longer exist thus are preserved in this compilation. It lists many diseases and methods of diagnosis, records methods of compounding medicines, and discusses acupuncture, bathing, medical exercises, artificial emergency aid, and other topics. Compiled by Wang Tao (670−755), the work represents an outstanding contribution to the preservation of traditional medical classics and summarizes ...

Chong xiu Zhenghe jing shi zheng lei bei yong ben cao (Revised Zhenghe edition of classified and practical basic materia medica based on historical classics) is an encyclopedic work on pharmacopeia by Song physician Tang Shenwei. Its origins range from Shennong ben cao jing (Shennong’s materia medica) of the Qin and Han dynasties to Zheng lei ben cao (Classified herbal medicine), also by Tang and published before this edition. The work lists 1,746 herbal medicines. It was widely known and recommended in medical circles for its rich contents ...

Ben cao gang mu (Compendium of Materia Medica) is a systematic encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine before the 16th century. The work, in 52 juan of text and two juan of illustrations, consists of 1,892 entries, 374 of them added by the author and compiler Li Shizhen (1518−93). Included are about 11,000 prescriptions. It is a priceless legacy of the treasury of Chinese medicine and still applicable. Li Shizhen completed the first draft of the text in 1578, but it was not published until the 21st year ...

This manuscript is a copy of Kitab Al-jami li-mufradat al-adwiya wa al-aghdhiya (The book of medicinal and nutritional terms), an alphabetical encyclopedia by the Andalusian author, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Bayṭār al-Mālaqī (circa 1197–1248), containing the names and properties of more than 1,000 plants and substances of medicinal value. The author quotes many earlier scientists, including Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna. Ibn al-Bayṭār was born in Malaga, hence the reference al-Mālaqī in his name, and the text contains numerous references to Andalusia and to Andalusian place-names such as ...

Donguibogam (Principles and practice of Eastern medicine) is an encyclopedia of medical knowledge and treatment techniques compiled and edited by Heo Jun, with the collective support of other medical experts in Korea. Heo Jun, a court physician, received a royal command to write a medical book to assist people suffering from famine brought about by war and drought during the rule of King Seonjo (1552–1608, reigned, 1567–1608). Heo Jun himself picked the proper medicinal herbs, which were native to the Korean Peninsula. He conducted human clinical trials to ...

Ishinpō, the Japanese encyclopedia of Chinese medicine, was compiled by Japanese author Tanba Yasunori (912–95) in the Heian period. It is a collected work of quotations from more than 200 works on traditional Chinese medicine dating from the Sui and Tang dynasties (581–907), comprising about 10,000 items. It preserves a large amount of medical lore from books that have since been lost. It is also the earliest medical work existing in Japan. Originally in 30 juan, it was issued in 982 and presented to the Japanese emperor ...

One of the earliest pioneers in the history of medicine, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyā al-Rāzī (also known by the Latinized version of his name, Rhazes or Rasis, 865–925 AD, 251–313 AH) was a Muslim Persian polymath, physician, and philosopher. He was born in the city of Rayy, near present-day Tehran, Iran, and spent most of his life between his birthplace and Baghdad, the capital city of the Abbasid caliphate. He taught medicine and was the chief physician in both cities. He made major and lasting contributions to ...

Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi (known as Ibn al-Baitar, circa 1197–1248 AD) was an Andalusian Arab scientist, botanist, pharmacist, and physician. He was born in Malaga, Spain, and died in Damascus, Syria. He is considered one of the major scientists of Muslim Spain. His father was a veterinarian, which earned him the nickname al-Baitar, Arabic for veterinarian. Ibn al-Baitar was also trained by a pioneering Andalusian botanist called Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati. Kitab Al-jami li-mufradat al-adwiya wa al-aghdhiya (The book of medicinal and nutritional terms ...

Muaffaq-addin Abu Al-Abbas Ahmad Ibn Al-Qasim Ibn Khalifa Al-Khazraji, better known as Ibn Abī Usaybiah (died circa 1269 AD), was an Arab physician and historian, who was born in Damascus, Syria. The son of an oculist, he studied medicine in Syria as well as in Egypt. Uyūn ul-Anbā fī Ṭabaqāt ul-Aṭibbā (Lives of the physicians) is an encyclopedia containing biographies of known Greek, Roman, Indian and Muslim physicians from ancient times to around 1245 AD. The work is divided into 15 chapters, the first of which is a general treatment ...

Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi (also known by his Latinized name Albucasis, circa 936–1013 AD) was an Andalusian Muslim surgeon, who was born in El Zahra (known today as Medina Azahara), near Cordoba, Spain. He is considered by some to be the father of modern surgery and is best known for his medical encyclopedia Al-tasreef liman ajiza an al-taaleef (The method of medicine). This work became a standard text in Europe for five centuries under its Latin title, Liber Alsaharavi de cirugia, after it was translated from the ...

Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (also known by Latinized versions of his name, Rhazes or Rasis, circa 865–925) was a Persian polymath, physician, and philosopher who made major and lasting contributions to the fields of medicine, music, philosophy, and alchemy and was the author of more than 200 books and treatises. He was known in the fields of both medicine and chemistry and undertook chemical experiments to create medicines to treat particular diseases. He followed a scientific approach in his research using the methods of monitoring and observation ...

Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Harawī, who flourished in the late 15th–early 16th centuries, was a physician and author of at least two medical treatises, including this lexicon Baḥr al-jawāhir (The sea of gems). It is a medical dictionary arranged alphabetically, covering anatomical and pathological terms and concepts and medicinal substances. The colophon gives the composition date as 924 AH (1518 AD). This manuscript was copied in 1601 in a clear medium-sized naskh script with some rubrication. The manuscript was a gift of Harvey Cushing (1869–1939), a Yale-educated neurosurgeon, whose ...

One of the earliest pioneers in the history of medicine, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī (also known by the Latinized version of his name, Rhazes or Rasis, circa 865–circa 925) was a Muslim Persian polymath, physician, and philosopher. He was born in the city of Rayy, near present-day Tehran, Iran, and spent most of his life between his birthplace and Baghdad, the capital city of the Abbasid caliphate. He taught medicine and was the chief physician in both cities. He made major and lasting contributions to the fields ...